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Morbius (film)
| screenplay = * }} | story = | based on = | starring = | music = Jon Ekstrand | cinematography = Oliver Wood | editing = | studio = | distributor = Sony Pictures Releasing | released = | runtime = | country = United States | language = English | budget = | gross = }} Morbius is an upcoming American horror superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Marvel Entertainment and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. It is intended to be the second film in Sony's Marvel Universe. The film is being directed by Daniel Espinosa from a script by Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless, Art Marcum and Matt Holloway, and stars Jared Leto in the title role alongside Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Al Madrigal, and Tyrese Gibson. After announcing plans for a new shared universe of films inspired by Spider-Man's characters beginning with Venom (2018), Sony was revealed to be developing one based on Morbius. Sazama and Sharpless had written a script by November 2017, with Leto and Espinosa officially joining in June 2018. Work began in earnest at the end of the year with further casting, ahead of a production start in February 2019 in London. Filming was set to take 12 weeks, and was confirmed to have been completed by June 2019. As of June 2019, the film is in the post-production stage. Morbius is scheduled to be released in the United States on July 31, 2020. Premise Dangerously ill with a rare blood disorder, and determined to save others suffering his same fate, Dr. Morbius attempts a desperate gamble. What at first appears to be a radical success soon reveals itself to be a remedy potentially worse than the disease. Cast * Jared Leto as Michael Morbius: A Nobel Prize-winning biologist suffering from a rare blood disease, who attempts to cure himself with vampire bat DNA, but instead becomes afflicted with a form of vampirism, which sees him develop unusual inhuman traits and abilities, the progressive, gradual mutation of his physical appearance and the gradual degradation of his mental health for the worst. **Charlie Shotwell as Young Michael Morbius * Matt Smith as Loxias Crown: Morbius' friend and colleague who suffers from the same rare blood disease. * Adria Arjona as Martine Bancroft: Morbius' fiancée. * Tyrese Gibson as Simon Stroud: An FBI agent hunting Morbius. Gibson signed a three picture deal when he joined the film. * Jared Harris as Morbius' mentor. * Al Madrigal as Alberto Rodriguez: Stroud's FBI partner also hunting Morbius. Additionally, Michael Keaton has been cast in an undisclosed role, as an acquaintance of Morbius. Production Development Artisan Entertainment announced a deal with Marvel Entertainment in May 2000 to co-produce, finance, and distribute several films based on Marvel Comics characters, including Morbius, the Living Vampire. In May 2017, Sony officially announced plans for a new shared universe named "Sony's Marvel Universe", to feature Spider-Man-related properties beginning with Venom in October 2018. That November, Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless submitted a script to Sony for a potential Morbius film, after a "secret development process" at the studio for the character. Jared Leto became "loosely attached" to the project to potentially star in the title role, but would not fully commit to the film until he was happy with the direction it was going; Leto asked to personally meet with several of the directors that Sony was looking at for the film. By the end of April 2018, Sony had approached Antoine Fuqua about potentially directing the film. He expressed interest in taking on the project, and said that if he was to make a film in the superhero genre he would want to make it "something that's closer to what I get excited about." He ultimately chose not to take on the project. Other directors that Sony approached about the film included F. Gary Gray, who considered directing the film but ultimately turned down the role, and Daniel Espinosa, who previously directed the film Life (2017) for the studio. In May, while on tour in Germany with his band Thirty Seconds to Mars, Leto met with Espinosa to talk about the film, and the pair were both confirmed for the project at the end of June. Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, and Lucas Foster were set to produce, and Sony was expected to give the film a release date shortly after with filming set to begin by the end of 2018. The studio hoped the film would fit in with its already-set Marvel slate, including Venom and Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019). Pre-production By the end of September, Sony was intending for production on the film to take place in Atlanta, Georgia—where Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) and Venom were previously produced—but had still not set a release date for the film. Screen Rant's Cooper Hood opined that Sony was likely waiting to see the response to Venom in early October, with Arad confirming at that time that there was excitement at Sony to produce Morbius, especially due to the story of a "healer that becomes a killer, and how do you deal with that?" Tolmach said the project was "very far along" at that stage and they were now planning to begin filming in early 2019, with the intention that Morbius would be the second film released as part of Sony's shared universe after Venom. He added that Leto was bringing the same "intensity" to the film that he had playing the Joker in Suicide Squad (2016). By November, box office analysts believed that Venom had been successful enough for Sony to move ahead with other films like Morbius, and at the end of that month the studio dated an untitled Marvel film that was believed to be Morbius for a July 10, 2020 release. Adria Arjona entered negotiations to portray the film's female lead, Martine Bancroft, in December; her involvement was confirmed a month later when Sony pushed the release date to July 31, and Matt Smith also joined the cast. Filming Principal photography began during the last week of February 2019 in London, under the working title Plasma. Oliver Wood served as cinematographer for the film. With the start of filming, Jared Harris and Tyrese Gibson joined the cast as Morbius's mentor and an FBI agent hunting Morbius, respectively. Smith was revealed to be portraying the villainous Loxias Crown. In March, filming took place in Manchester's Northern Quarter, portraying New York City. A month later, Gibson revealed that he was portraying Simon Stroud, and that Al Madrigal had been cast as his partner, Alberto Rodriguez. At the end of the month, Justin Haythe was believed to have contributed to the film's script. Filming was scheduled to take 12 weeks, and Venom producer Amy Pascal said in June that production had "just wrapped" on the project. Post-production In January 2020, Art Marcum and Matt Holloway were revealed as screenwriters for the film, and Michael Keaton was revealed to appear in an undisclosed role. Music By October 2019, Jon Ekstrand was set to compose the score for Morbius after doing the same for Espinosa's previous films. Marketing The first teaser trailer for the film was released on January 13, 2020. According to media outlets such as Screen Rant, IGN, Collider, and The Hollywood Reporter, the film (along with Venom and Sony's Marvel Universe) will have connections to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the trailer showed Morbius walking by a picture of Spider-Man on the wall with "MURDERER" graffitied across it, teasing the mid-credit scene of Spider-Man: Far From Home. However, the image of Spider-Man appears to be that of Tobey Maguire's from the Sam Raimi trilogy. The big surprise suggesting these connections is the appearance of Michael Keaton who the outlets assume is reprising his role as The Vulture from Spider-Man: Homecoming, wearing the same clothes as the mid-credit scene of said movie. Tyrese Gibson has also suggested on his Instagram account in two posts that the film and Sony's franchise as a whole will connect to the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the hashtags #MCU and #Crossover. Release Morbius is scheduled to be released in the United States on July 31, 2020. It had previously been set by Sony for release on July 10. References }} External links * * Category:2020s action films Category:2020s superhero films Category:2020 horror films Category:American films Category:American action films Category:American horror films Category:American superhero films Category:Columbia Pictures films Category:English-language films Category:Films directed by Daniel Espinosa Category:Films produced by Avi Arad Category:Films produced by Lucas Foster Category:Films produced by Matt Tolmach Category:Films scored by Jon Ekstrand Category:Films shot in London Category:Films with screenplays by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless Category:Films with screenplays by Art Marcum and Matt Holloway Category:Sony's Marvel Universe films Category:Superhero horror films Category:Vampires in film Category:Films produced by Amy Pascal